AJAX, ONT—AUGUST 3, 2018—The first, highly anticipated match-up of the brilliant 3-year-old Had To Be Ivory and 2-time Horse of the Year Country Boy 123 will take place Sunday at Ajax Downs in the second leg of the Distance Series at 400 yards.

Had To Be Ivory, the Champion 2-year-old of 2017 has never lost in six career races and won the Ajax Bonus Derby with ease in his only start of this year. Owned by Carol and Jaime Robertson and ridden by Tony Phillips, Had to Be Ivory just missed a long-standing track record for 300 yards in his return, posting a superb 107 speed index.

Meanwhile, it has been busy as usual for Country Boy 123 who has won all four of his 2018 outings including the All Canadian Classic and the Picov Maturity. Ruth Barbour's amazing 5-year-old put up a 108 speed-index in his All Canadian victory in the slop on July 22. Cory Spataro of Innisfil, the track's leading rider, is on board.

Fittingly, the super nine-race card at Ajax Sunday headlines Sports Day at the track in which fans will have chances to win tickets to Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto Argonauts and Toronto FC games.

The Distance Series is race 6 and first race post time is 12:55 p.m. (EDT). For more information please visit www.ajaxdowns.com.

All the Ajax Downs events can be found at ajaxdowns.com.